198 ADVANCED BEE CULTURE. 



this manner upon the tops of the frames, the candy may be "run" 

 directly into empty brood frames, and the frames hung- in the hives 

 adjoining the bees. To fill a frame with candy, lay it upon a smooth 

 board with a piece of paper under the frame, and pour in the candy, 

 after first waiting: for it to cool until it is as cool as it can be, and yet 

 be made to "run." To keep the frame down close to the paper, so 

 that the soft candy will not run out while cooling-, tack the frame 

 down with some nails just long enough to hold the frame down 

 nicely, but not long enough to make it difficult of removal. If a 

 frame full of candy is more than a colony needs, a less amount may 

 be given by tacking a crossbar in the frame, part way up from the 

 bottom, and filling the upper space only with candy. 



Mice sometimes do some little damage, both to colonies wintered 

 indoors, and those in the open air. This damage is confined prin- 

 cipally to that of gnawing the combs. If bee-keepers would only 

 remember that bees can pass through a space that is less than % of 

 an inch, and that a mouse needs a space nearly twice this, it would 

 seem that there need be no trouble in keeping mice out of doors. 

 Simply contract the entrance until it is only % of an inch the nar- 

 rowest way, and no mice can enter. This should be done quite early 

 in the fall, as cool, frosty nights often drive the mice into the warm 

 retreat to be found inside a bee hive. When bees are wintered in 

 the cellar, many bee-keepers practice raising the hive about two 

 inches from the bottom board; others remove the bottom board en- 

 tirely. This allows plenty of ventilation with scarcely any escape of 

 heat. All dead bees and rubbish drop down away from the cluster 

 of bees, where they dry up instead of becoming mouldy and rotten 

 from contact with the warmth and moisture of the cluster. If a 

 colony does die, the combs are left dry and clean, instead of being 

 stuck together with a mass of damp, moldy, rotting bees. All who 

 have tried raising hives in this manner are enthusiastic in its praise; 

 but it will be seen that this plan gives the mice, if there are any in 

 the cellar, free access to the hives. The remedy is to trap the mice, 

 or poison them. For the latter purpose I have found nothing bettei 

 than equal parts of flour, white sugar and arsenic, mixed, and placed 

 in shallow dishes in difl:erent parts of the cellar. 



Unless the cellar is well under ground, where it is well beyond 

 the influence of the outside temperature, it is well to keep watch and 

 not allow the temperature to run too low in protracted cold spells. 

 A lamp stove, burned all night in a cellar, will raise the temperature 

 several degrees. During the fore part of winter, a low temperature 

 is not so dangerous as it is towards spring, when brood rearing may 

 have commenced. From 35 to 45 degrees will answer very well 



